Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1: Out of the Bat’s Shadow

Batman: The Winning Card – Part 1
W: Tom King, Artist and Colorist: Mitch Gerads, Letterer: Clayton Cowles

The headliner of this anthology sees King and Gerads reunited once again for a Batman story that takes place within the vigilante’s first year of crime fighting. Bruce has embraced the balance of crime fighter and flippant socialite, Gordon is still captain but has a clear disdain for the current commissioner’s handling of the Joker threat, and the Joker is spreading his brand of chaos across Gotham. This installment sets up the setting of Gotham and the pieces on the board without revealing too much about the central mystery. Joker befriends a missing young girl and returns her home to her father, while across town a rich man is under threat of death from the Joker, his cache of diamonds at risk. Elsewhere, Batman interrogates an abusive husband that murdered his wife. 

While the issue is light on plot, the atmosphere and establishment of a gritter, grounded Gotham is realized thanks to King’s sparse scripting and Gerads’s tense compositions and hazy coloring. This is a Gotham underworld that hasn’t reached a peak fear of Batman but is starting to inch closer through his interrogation methods. The most stunning element of this part is Batman’s handling of the murderer, leaving the man bound to tracks as a train approaches. Gerads starts the sequence with a nine-panel grid that shifts to a pattern of six and then five wide panels, creating a rhythm for the approaching train. The sequence features panels composed with a dead-center subject, creating an eerie effect with the symmetry of each panel that feeds into that lingering tension of the sequence. Cowles letters a constant stream of CGHs, in italics, across the bottom of every panel to create a beat, infusing a constant sense of tension to each panel. 

This feels in line with the approach to the Joker in the issue as well, as the villain is never shown to speak with word balloons. Instead, all of Joker’s dialogue is presented as an intercut card like you see in a silent film. It’s an unnerving choice to work to build up the otherworldly nature of Joker, while also playing the showman aspect of the character. Gerads will interlace these in both the nine-panel format and wide panel structure, but it’s at its most unsettling when used as a full page. The moment lends itself to the atmospheric storytelling on display in this issue and establishes a pulpy, crime-driven story that is set to unfold. 

Writing: 8/10
Art: 10/10
Letters: 10/10

Stormwatch: Down with the Kings – Part 1
Writer: Ed Brisson, Artist and Colorist: Jeff Spokes, Letterer: Saida Temofonte

The second story of the anthology is a strong shift from the grimy streets of Gotham to a sci-fi espionage tale that works to reestablish Stormwatch in the DC Universe. The former WildStorm team is now under the control of Director Bones, and serves as a black ops extension of the DEO (Department of Extranormal Operations), with a focus on terrestrial issues. Phantom-One, the once sidekick of Ghost-Maker is recruited to the new team, joining Ravager (Rose Wilson), Peacekeeper-01, Green Arrow antagonist Shado, Flint, and the newly created Ukrainian hero Core. The team’s first mission, which is barely a success by the end of it, is to stop a splinter cell of Black Hole (Speed Force weaponizing terrorist group) from breaking out a scientist from Iron Heights. 

Brisson’s script does a quick and efficient job of dropping the reader right into this new team. Each of the characters on the roster gets at least one moment to shine, with most of the emphasis in this first part going to Phantom-One and Ravager, along with Director Bones. No time is wasted setting up the team, establishing the mission, and then executing the plan with significant complications. The Black Hole mercenaries have a time-altering weapon that ages anyone inside its perimeter, which expands to start affecting inmates. Phantom-One and Ravager are the most heroic adjacent members of the team, and disobey orders to assist the prisoners while the rest of the team works to finish the mission, creating an interesting dynamic for the ongoing story. 

Spokes’s linework is similarly concise in its execution, utilizing clean lines to give a firm, tense look to the story. The action is clear and easy to follow, and Stokes gives each character a dynamic, unique look that keeps them distinguished on the page. Much of the panel work is in service to keeping the story flowing, playing on the time-sensitive nature of Black Hole’s weapons to add tension during the action. That concise action blends well with the more sci-fi elements of Stormwatch’s satellite base, the hightech aesthetics of Iron Heights, and Black Hole’s advanced weaponry. 

Writing: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Letters: 8/10

Superman: Order of the Black Lamp – Part 1
Writer: Christopher Cantwell, Artist and Colorist: Javier Rodríguez, Letterer: Simon Bowland

The only non-Batfamily-related story in this collection is Order of the Black Lamp, setting itself apart with both a focus on Superman and an adventure/pulp sensibility. The story cements itself in current continuity as Lois Lane is acting Editor in Chief of the Daily Planet, and Superman’s alter identity is back to being a secret. While searching for a story to help drive readership to the paper, Clark discovers an old decoder ring from his days in Smallville. 

The ring is from an old TV show that featured an ace pilot named Hop Harrigan, and reveals a message with coordinates to a mountain range and a request to “Save me”. As Superman goes to investigate, under the guise of writing a special column with reporter Clark Kent to chronicle the adventure, the ring reveals a hidden structure in the mountains, promising more adventures.  

Cantwell’s script and Rodríguez’s art capture what feels like a bygone era of storytelling, blending the pulp roots of comics with a modern approach to conflict. Rodríguez’s art uses a simplified style that creates clean images with solid backgrounds and lacks the hyper-detail of more cinematic comics. Moments like the sci-fi adjacent tech dips into more complex linework, but for the most part the villains and action are easy to follow on the page. 

There’s a great moment where Superman just shrugs off a flurry of bullets and it’s a great representation of the dichotomy between the unstoppable Superman and the interesting way to show the hero a challenge intellectually. As he resists the attackers, he continues to struggle with his voice in a story for the planet, trying to determine where ordinary people stand in relation to the symbol of Superman.

Writing: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Letters: 10/10

Heroes of Tomorrow
Writer and Artist: Dan Mora, Letterer: Tom Napolitano

The final story of the anthology gives superstar artist Dan Mora free reins to tell his own Batman-centric story while playing with a black-and-white format. In another universe, Batman is a cyber-punk, Power Ranger-adjacent hero of Gotham, battling the Royal Flush Guardsmen and Joker. As this Batman crashes his motorcycle into robotic sentinels to protect two children, the Joker reveals himself and continues the fight. Batman bonds with his bat companion V2 to form a fully costumed version of himself to defeat the robot and rescue brothers Richard and Jason before setting off to help the two children find their brother. 

Mora crafts a world of rich potential and compelling action by remixing the known quantities of the Bat-mythos with strong direction and intense action. This self-contained story doesn’t reinvent the character or break the mold but takes the emotional core of Bruce bonding with Dick over the loss of parents to create a stunning affirmation of why the Batfamily concept works. The issue is a snapshot into the compelling drive that Batman has to intervene when anyone needs help, and how his experiences shaped that drive. Mora dresses the emotional core in rad new designs, a gripping action setpiece, and what feels like an anime-inspired power-up, but never loses sight of the beating heart of Batman. 

While this story is only slated to be a one-shot, here’s to the hope it could expand into a full story like Batman: White Knight, as Mora’s voice and style for this version of Batman, might be the most interesting in an already crowded landscape. 

Writing: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Letters: 10/10